Vibratory bag flattener



March 17, 1959 J. M. MORRIS VIBRATORY BAG FLATTENER 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 26, 1957 I INVENTOR. JOHN M. MORRIS ATTORNEYS March 17, 1959 J. M. MORRIS 2,877,704 VIBRATORY BAG FLATTENER Filed Dec. 26, 1957 4 Shets-Sheet a INVENT OR.

JOHN M MORRIS ATTORNEYS J. M'. MORRIS VIBRATORY BAG FLATTENER March 17, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 26, 1957 INVENTZOR. g OHN M.MORR|S ATTORNEY Unit fires VIBRATGRY BAG FLATTENER Application December 25, 1957, Serial No. 705,344

Claims. (Cl. Hill- 70) Granular or pulverulent materials such as Portland cement, salt, sugar, flour, fertilizer and grain usually are packed in bags. Whether the bags are filled by machines or by hand they usually bulge outwardly at the sides and often are heavily loaded at their lower ends while their upper ends are lightly loaded. Hence, bags of such materials tend to be barrel shaped or pear shaped.

Such rotund shapes are difficult to handle and to stack. When piled in warehouses they are liable to cascade to lower levels and when being transported or elevated they are liable to roll oh" of trucks and hoists by which they are being carried. Machines have been devised to flatten the sides of filled bags by passing them under squeezing rollers (see patent to Bundren No. 588,125, August 17, 1897) or by squeezing them between side boards (see patent to Nicolas No. 2,119,174, May 31, 1938) or by pressing them between upper and lower conveyor belts (see patent to Shields No. 2,682,216, June 29, 1954). Rupture of bags of materials which are not free flowing or which contain lumps or clods is an ever present hazard when such bags are shaped by pressing or squeezing.

I have found that bags of many kinds of granular and pulverulent materials can be flattened by passing them along a vibratory conveyor. Shaping bags of materials by passing them along a vibratory conveyor is a comparatively gentle treatment which does not rupture bags that are barely strong enough to stand manual handling. The frequencies and amplitudes of vibration of conveyors employed to flatten bags can be readily adjusted to condition the apparatus to work best with any particular type of loaded bag that is being shaped.

There are some bagged commodities the particles of which are nonuniform in size and shape. Many bagged commodities have other properties which make it diflicult to shape bags containing them solely by gentle vibratory action unless the action is prolonged to an extent which may cause separation of fines from coarse granules. Other commodities are sticky and others contain agglomerations which do not disintegrate or flatten under gentle vibration alone.

I have discovered that most bags of materials with characteristics that prevent the bags from flattening under gentle vibration alone will flatten readily if, during vibration, they are patted. The patting while the particles are loosened in vibration need not be severe. I have discovered further that the patting can be done by the vibratory movement of the bag itself or by vibration of a patting plate in synchronism with the vibratory movement of the material in the bag. The plate itself can vibrate or it can be quiescent and be touched by the vibrated bag. The plate may lie parallel to the path along which the bags are conveyed or it may slope toward the path.

I have discovered also that the sides of filled bags may be shaped or smoothed most advantageously by the action of plates of certain dimensions and contours. In some cases racks of rollers may be advantageously substituted for plates. The appropriateness and efliciency tent ire

of any particular embodiment of the invention described herein will depend in part upon the nature of the bagged material to be processed.

It is a general object of this invention to provide improved vibratory bag flattening apparatus.

A further object is to provide apparatus which will flatten bags of hard to shape material without danger of rupture.

Another object is to provide apparatus capable of flattening bags of diverse materials, which apparatus can be conditioned and adjusted appropriately for the most satisfactory processing of bags of any particular material.

Other objects and numerous advantages of the invention will be apparent upon perusal of the following description as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a view in perspective of one form of apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 11 is an elevational view of a modified form of apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. Ill is a plan view of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. II;

Fig. 1V is a plan view illustrating a plate and trough of another form of apparatus;

Fig. V is an elevational view of the plate and trough illustrated in Fig. IV;

Fig. VI is an enlarged fragmentary view of a mounting that may be used in most forms of the apparatus;

Fig. VII is an elevational view of a further modified form of apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. Vlll is a plan view of the form shown in Fig. VII;

Fig. IX is an elevational view of still another modified form;

Fig. X is a view in perspective of a form of apparatus having a bag flattening element which consists of a plurality of longitudinally extending rails;

Fig. X1 is a plan view of a further modified form in which the flattening element comprises a plurality of parallel tubes; and

Fig. Xll is an elevational view of the device illustrated in Fig. XI.

These drawings and the following description illustrate and describe various embodiments of the invention but are not intended to limit its scope.

The form of device illustrated by Fig. I comprises a base 11 upon which is mounted a motor 12 which acts through speed reducing mechanism, not shown but housed in a casing 13, to vibrate a trough 14 axially of helical springs 15 and 16 which are connected at their ends to the base 11 and trough 14.

Pairs of flat springs 17 and 18 on one side and their invisible duplicates on the other side of the apparatus serve to reinforce the helical springs 15 and 16 and to prevent the trough 14 from tilting and to constrain it to vibrate with parallel movement.

The mechanism so far described is essentially the same as that of vibratory conveyor mechanism that is available on the market. If a bag B of free flowing granules of uniform size is placed upon the trough in the position in which the bag B is shown in Fig. I and the trough 14 is vibrated at suitable speed and amplitude the bag will move along the trough to its far end and will assume a flat pillow shape as it is conveyed. Bags, of materials that are not entirely free flowing, after being thus flattened will retain their flattened shapes while being handled with reasonable care.

Bars of some commodities, especially those the particles of which are fluffy and tend to cling together or commodities that are sticky and lumpy or which contain clods that are not sufficiently frangible to disintegrate under the influence of vibration alone, nevertheless may be flattened with the help of a plate 19 arranged to overlie the trough 14 at a vertical distance from the trough so small that an unflattened bag B will touch the plate 19 as the bag is conveyed under the plate. As long as the bag B is thick enough to touch the plate 19 as the bag moves along the vibrating conveyor trough 14 the bag and its contents receive a swift succession of light pats which shape the upper side of the bag into parallelism with the lower side that gets a somewhat similar but more pro nounced treatment from the bottom of the trough. The plate 19, itself, in the form of device illustrated in Fig. I, is quiescent, being supported from the base 11 by means of standards 20 and cross bars 21 to which the plate 19 is secured. The ends 22 and 23 of the plate 19 preferably are up-turned as indicated in Fig. I so that the sack will not catch upon the ends and corners of the plate.

The form of device illustrated by Figs. II and III differs from the form illustrated by Fig. I in that the plate 19a is supported by the struts 20:: from the vibratory trough 14a, rather than from the base 11a. The vibration imparting mechanism, which is concealed in Figs. II and III by the casing 13a, can be identical with that employed in the form of device illustrated by Fig. I. In the form of device shown in Figs. II and III the trough 14a and the plate 19a vibrate together upward and forward and downward and backward. A sack being moved along the trough 14a by small upward and forward tosses meets the plate 19a during the downward and backward portion of the vibratory cycle. The upward and forward tosses of the trough preponderate over the downward and backward impacts of the plate but the impacts of the plate are sufficient to flatten and smooth the upper surfaces of the sacks of materials which the form of device in Figs. II and III is adapted to process.

The form of device illustrated in Figs. IV and V differs from the form illustrated by Figs. II and III in that the plate 1% is as wide as the trough 14b, and in that the plate 1% is not parallel to the trough 14b but slopes downwardly and forwardly so as to continue its impacts upon a bag which is becoming progressively thinner and thinner as the bag moves forwardly under the plate. Plates corresponding to any of those shown in Figs. I to VIII, inclusive, can, of course, be adjusted to sloping position.

Fig. VI shows a mounting which not only provides a means of adjusting the distance of either end of a plate 19:: from a trough 14c but also provides means for permitting the plate 190 to yield upwardly in case a thick sack or part of a sack is forced under the plate. An expansion spring 24c can be compressed by means of a nut 25c until it is prestressed to yield only after a definite force is exerted upwardly on the plate 19c. The nut 250 should be turned down far enough to cause the spring 240 to prevent the plate 19c from being tossed upwardly by vibration of the trough 140 but not far enough to prevent the plate 19c from yielding if a bag should become wedged under it.

The optimum width of plate to be employed will depend upon the nature of the commodities contained in the sacks to be processed and upon the result desired. A narrow plate that is only one-third the width of the bag to be processed will tend to make the upper side of the bag concave rather than flat. In some cases bags with concave upper sides will stack better than bags with flat upper sides. A narrow plate will compact some sorts of materials more elfectively than they can be compacted by a wider plate. On the other hand a plate that is as wide or wider than the bag that is conveyed under it will in some cases make the upper side of the bag flatter and smoother than it can be made by a narrow plate.

Figs. VII and VIII illustrate forms of the machine in which the trough 14d and the plate 19d are vibrated 180 out of phase with eachv other. The motor 12d mechanism to turn a crank shaft 26d with oppositely disposed cranks that are connected respectively, by means of links 27d and 28d, to the trough 14d and to angleform frame members 29d which support the plate 19d, so that when the trough 110! is in the forward and upward phase of its vibratory cycle the plate 19d is in the rearward and downward phase of its vibratory cycle. The bag that is being conveyed under the plate 19d and its contents are thus subjected to an ultra-rapid succession of minute squeezes which work the bags contents into the desired flattened shape.

Under some circumstances a rack of rollers may be employed instead of a plate. Fig. IX illustrates a machine similar to the machine illustrated by Fig. II except that a rack of rollers 19a is employed instead of the plate 19a.

The form of device illustrated in Fig. X is similar to that illustrated in Fig. I except that a plurality of parallel strips or rails 19 is employed in place of the plate 19 illustrated in Fig. I.

The form of device illustrated in Figs. XI and XII also is similar to that illustrated in Fig. I except that a plurality of tubes 19g is employed instead of the plate 19 illustrated in Fig. I.

The bag flattening elements of the machines illustrated in Figs. I, X, XI and XII are supported from the bases of the machines and therefore are held stationary while the troughs 14, 14 and 14g are vibrating. It is anticipated that in most installations embodying this in vention the bag flattening elements will be stationary whether they consist of wide plates, narrow plates',rollers, rails or tubes. All forms of bag flattening elements can be mounted to vibrate in phase with troughs or to vibrate out of phase.

The embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and herein described are exemplary only and it is to be understood that the invention includes other modifications within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A vibratory bag flattener comprising, in combination, a vibratory conveyor including an elongated member adapted to convey bags longitudinally thereof, and a fiattening element mounted above said elongated member in position to touch the upper sides of bags as they are being so conveyed.

2. A vibratory bag flattener comprising, in combination, a vibratory conveyor including an elongated member adapted to convey bags longitudinally thereof, and a flat tening element mounted above said elongated member in position to touch the upper sides of bags as they are being so conveyed, said flattening element being so connected to said vibratory conveyor as to vibrate concurrently with said elongated member.

3. A vibratory bag flattener comprising, in combination, a vibratory conveyor including an elongated member adapted to convey bags longitudinally thereof, and a flattening element mounted above said elongated member in position to touch the upper sides of bags as they are being so conveyed, said bag flattening element being connected to said elongated member to vibrate in synchronism therewith.

4. A vibratory bag flattener comprising, in combination, a vibratory conveyor including an elongated member adapted to convey bags longitudinally thereof, and a flattening element mounted above said elongated member in position to touch the upper sides of bags as they are being so conveyed, said elongated member being trough shaped.

5. A vibratory bag flattener comprising, in combination, a vibratory conveyor including an elongated member adapted to convey bags longitudinally thereof, and a flattening element mounted above said elongated member" is mounted on the base 11d and acts through pulley in position to touch the upper sides of bags as they are being so conveyed, said flattening element being an oblong plate with upturned ends.

6. A vibratory bag flattener comprising, in combination, a vibratory conveyor including an elongated member adapted to convey bags longitudinally thereof, and a flattening element mounted above said elongated member in position to touch the upper sides of bags as they are being so conveyed, said elongated member being trough shaped and said flattening element being an oblong plate with upturned ends.

7. A vibratory bag flattener comprising, in combination, a vibratory conveyor including an elongated member adapted to convey bags longitudinally thereof, a flattening element, means for mounting said flattening element above said elongated member in position to touch the upper sides of bags as they are being so conveyed, and means for adjusting the height of said flattening element above said elongated member.

8. A vibratory bag flattener comprising, in combination, a vibratory conveyor including an elongated member 20 adapted to convey bags longitudinally thereof, a flattening element mounted above said elongated member in position to touch the upper sides of bags as they are being so conveyed, and means for permitting said flattening element to yield upwardly when subjected to excess upward force.

9. A vibratory bag flattener comprising, in combination, a vibratory conveyor including an elongated member adapted to convey bags longitudinally thereof, a flattening element mounted above said elongated member in position to touch the upper sides of bags as they are being so conveyed, and means connecting said flattening element to said vibratory conveyor to vibrate said flattening element out of phase with said elongated member.

10. A vibratory bag flattener comprising, in combination, a vibratory conveyor including an elongated member adapted to convey bags longitudinally thereof, and a rack of bag flattening rollers mounted above said elongated member in position to touch the upper sides of bags as they are being so conveyed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,490,381 Shields Dec. 6, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,877,704 March 17, 1959 John M. Morris It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

gilumn 2, line 67, for Bars read -Bags; column 4:, line 5, for 11121 read 14 Signed and sealed this 21st day of July 1959.

Attest KARL H. AXLINE, ROBERT C. WATSON, Attestz'ng Qficer. Gammz'ssz'oner of Patents. 

